My guess is that impristine, and his alias personalities, just got too controversial for SI. We all like to think we are in this very cool, free speech, artistic kind of environment, and at the very beginning of SI, in the spring and summer of 1996 in particular, that was pretty true. It was sort of like the Haight Ashbury during the summer of 1966, when there was really love and truth and beauty. Then the hard and nasty drugs came. Well, not a very good analogy, really, now that I think of it, but I'm sure you understand what I'm saying. There was an innocence and sense of exhiliration which have been utterly lost, and we are an enticement to others to join up and make money for the owners, when we behave ourselves. We are essentially all being to make a profit, and so we must behave ourselves and not be very controversial, although a certain elitist smugness is of course okay on occasion as long as we do not THREATEN anyone, or the status quo.
I hope impristine is okay, wherever he is. I got the idea that his being able to really express his feelings, especially his anger, was very important to his survival as a somewhat balanced human being, and I really hope he has found some way to continue to vent. |
